NUBE voter list riddled with discrepancies

Scores of National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) members are frustrated with the major discrepancies in the voter list, inundating the registered premises in Jalan Ampang with phone calls on what to do next.

The NUBE election is set for July 17 following a one-week delay as announced by the Director-General of Trade Union (DGTU) Mohd Zubir Mohd Basri Monday citing insufficient time to prepare the voter/membership list as at October 29, 2001.

Several Kuala Lumpur NUBE branch members contacted malaysiakini to express their anger and frustration with the “messed-up list created by the DGTU” after they discovered some names missing and others wrongly listed on the electoral roll displayed at selected locations.

Who will be responsible?

Committee member T Sethupathy, 28, became upset after discovering that his name had gone missing from the list for the Kuala Lumpur branch.

“I brought along my September 2001 payslip and went to check the list at the labour office in the Perkeso building along Jalan Ampang at 11.20.

“The counter staff, although polite, was clueless when I asked her to rectify the mistake. Instead, she took down my details on a piece of paper and said I will be contacted later or tomorrow,” he said

Sethupathy, who will attempt to retain his position as a branch committee member, was concerned with the mess-up in the membership list.

“Who is going to be responsible if something goes wrong in the election, especially when this is the only opportunity to resolve the matter?” he asked.

“Members at the branches are working hard to mobilise all eligible members to turn up to vote but the DGTU appears to be attempting the reverse,” added Sethupathy who joined NUBE after starting work with the HSBC Bank in 1996.

He said another member whose name was wrongly listed under another branch was asked to request for a postal ballot.

“Why is the DGTU suggesting postal balloting so easily instead of correcting the mistake and returning the member’s name to the right branch.

“We all know what happens in the postal ballots for the general elections.

That is where all the hanky-panky happens,” he added.

Seething with anger, Sethupathy said the DGTU’s actions looked as if he wanted the 30,000-odd NUBE members to suffer for another three to four years.

Postal vote

K Egaparam, 38, a union member since joining HSBC in 1990, related a similar experience at the labour office.

“I was shocked when the counter staff told me that my name appeared under the Ipoh branch. I’ve never been transferred anywhere else since joining the bank in KL 15 years ago,” he said.

“When I asked her to make the necessary correction, she suggested that I request for a postal vote. Why should I do that when I’m a member in benefit reporting to the KL branch?”

Postal balloting is provided for under the NUBE constitution where a member is unable to make it to the polling center and makes a written request to the general secretary – in this case the DGTU – and only applies within the respective branch.

K Nithiyananthan, 28, a KL branch member who has been with HSBC since 1997, said his name appeared under the Penang branch list.

Similarly, his colleague Nazri Abu Bakar, 27, a NUBE member since 1996, found his name under the Seremban branch list.

Both were very upset that the mistakes are not being rectified and time was running out.

The Court of Appeal ruling on April 20 ordered the DGTU to conduct the elections within four months.

Problems in Malacca

In another case, Malacca NUBE branch members were complaining that they were asked to choose between voting in either Bukit Katil which is the correct center or in Pedas, meant for members in the Seremban branch.

“When the Malacca branch members went to obtain the nomination forms today, the trade union department officer said they had to register in Pedas,” said a branch member who declined to be named.

The registered NUBE office, occupied by the group led by Abdul Jalil Hamid and J Solomon, has been receiving a host of complaints from upset members.

“They are concerned over the legitimacy of the election and the mistakes in the membership list.

A lot of problems are cropping up as more members go to check the list, which in itself is also incomplete.

“The other worry is what if someone goes to court and declares it null and void? Then we’re had,” said one of the KL branch members.

Members of the rival group, led by Muhammad Fauzi Shamsuddin, could not be reached for comment.